Southern College of Optometry will expand with $9.4M classroom building

Flexible space and state-of-the-art technology for tech-savvy students have guided design of the new Southern College of Optometry classroom building. Classrooms will be able to be configured in many ways, seating as many as 620 students in one large room.

Southern College of Optometry's new classroom facility is designed to look like the rest of its Midtown campus, especially the school's distinctive tower. Work on the building will begin this spring, with the opening slated for August 2013.

Southern College of Optometry will soon begin work on a $9.4 million classroom facility geared toward tech-savvy students.

The new one-story building will add 23,000 square feet of classroom space to the campus behind the college's distinctive 11-story tower. The space is designed to be flexible, able to seat as many as 620 in one large room or divided into smaller classrooms in many configurations.

Work on the new building will begin this spring, said SCO president Dr. Richard W. Phillips. Construction is expected to conclude in 15 months, and the building is slated to open in August 2013.

The project has been developing over the past two years, beginning with long-range planning ideas from Chicago-based Cannon Design based on the future of the optometry profession and instruction, Phillips said.

The campus and its amenities must be a draw for students so the college can compete nationally for the best talent.

"We have an outstanding clinical facility that's probably the best in the country," said Phillips, referencing the 2002-built Eye Center. "We want to have the same in our classroom."

To get there, Phillips said project officials had to get in the head of the modern student, one who expects a wireless Internet connection, takes notes on a tablet or laptop and interacts digitally with instructors and staff.

The rooms will have up-to-the-minute digital audio and video equipment with large screens to project slides and lectures. The desks will have microphones for questions and electrical outlets for computers. Lectures will be recorded for later reference while studying for exams.

"Students often have this kind of quality in undergraduate school," Phillips said. "You want them to come to a professional school ... thinking and realizing they are moving up in technology capability and not taking a step back."

The SCO capital campaign has already yielded $1 million in gifts and pledges, Phillips said, but is expected to bring in another $3 million. The school will use $1 million of those funds for its scholarship fund and to enhance existing clinical spaces. The school will fund the rest of the project with reserves and loans.

The new building won't immediately bring an increase to SCO's annual student roll, but it does provide the flexibility to do so, Phillips said. If student numbers do rise, it won't be because the school lowers its standards, he said. SCO now admits one student for every seven applications it receives.

Health care education organizations across Memphis are seeing demand from more students. Last year, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center only accepted 27 percent of its applicants.

"(Demand) is clearly going up because I think people know health care is one of those areas in the workplace that's going to be a stable environment," said Cheryl Scheid, vice chancellor for academic, faculty and student affairs and dean of the College of Graduate Health Sciences.

Mary Vines, head of Southwest Tennessee Community College's department of nursing, said the increased demand is likely due to the economy.

"People see nursing as a stable profession in this economy," she said. "We are seeing many people who are having to make a career change."